


Waiting All My Life

by Brumeier



Series: Life in the Yukon [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, The Sentinel (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Small Town, Dysfunctional Family, First Meetings, Friendship, M/M, Sentinel/Guide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-07 01:25:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17356352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: Blair comes back a day early from his trip and finally meets the person he's been waiting for.





	Waiting All My Life

_On behalf of K-LAN and the town of Lantea, let’s welcome our friends from Camp Fresh Start. They’ve come off the mountain to celebrate another successful…uh…class I guess? Course? Not sure what they call it, but we’re always happy to see them. Don’t forget that the buffet set up at the Café is for the kids._

_In other news, today’s my last day covering for Blair. He’ll be back from Fairbanks tomorrow in time for the lunch shift. It’s been a good run, hasn’t it? Well, before we gear up for Opera Hour, let’s talk about one of my favorite bands – The Temptations._

*o*o*o*

“I really appreciate this, man,” Blair said.

“Never need an excuse to go flying,” John replied amiably. 

While John communicated with the tower and did all his pre-flight safety checks, Blair pondered his relationship with his mother. True to form, their visit had started out very positively but ended badly, with accusations and hurt feelings. He didn’t know why he kept hoping for a different outcome when he knew he’d be disappointed time and time again.

He waited until the little plane had taxied and was airborne before he engaged John in conversation.

“You get along with your parents?” Blair asked, turning as much as the safety straps on his seat allowed so he could get a better view of John’s profile.

“Nope.”

“Me neither,” Blair said with a sigh. “I mean, we used to be close, Naomi and me. I don’t know. It seems inevitable that we’ll disappoint our family at some point in our lives. Do you ever get the feeling that we spend our whole lives searching for the things our families can never give us?”

John glanced over at him. “Rough visit with Naomi?”

“She doesn’t understand why I’m still in Alaska when I have the whole world at my fingertips. Even though I feel like we saw most of it by the time I was ten.”

“Not one for putting down roots, sounds like.”

“No,” Blair agreed. “She’s literally the antithesis of that. We never stayed too long in one place.”

It had been exciting when he was still young, when all he needed was his mother, but the older Blair got, the deeper his desire to find a place he could settle down. He wanted to be part of a community, wanted to belong somewhere. That’s what he had in Lantea.

“My old man wasn’t keen on me flying,” John said with a shrug. “We can’t live someone else’s life.”

Most of the people who lived in Lantea had come from somewhere else, Blair knew. Searching for something. Sometimes it was complicated – like Evan’s dual love-life – but for Blair it was very simple. An Inuit shaman had told him once, during a trip to Anchorage with Naomi when he was thirteen, that he’d find the answers to all his questions in Alaska. He was still waiting for that to be true.

“I just wish she could be more accepting of the path I’ve chosen,” Blair said. “I have a good life here.”

“Sure hasn’t been the same without you on the radio.” John shot him a grin. “Aiden’s not as good at it.”

“So he hasn’t replaced me?” Blair chuckled. “That’s good to know. Hey, is Dr. McKay still with us?”

“Yup.”

For the remainder of the flight back to Lantea, John regaled him with the tale of the wolf-dog the cranky scientist had hit with his truck, and the Mountie who’d come looking for it. Blair was sorry he’d missed all the shenanigans.

There really was no place like home.

*o*o*o*

Blair had John drop him off at the Café so he could grab some lunch to go. His plan for the day was to hole up in his little house and lick his familial wounds. He’d forgotten all about the Fresh Start kids coming off the mountain, but the level of noise and amount of bodies inside the Café quickly reminded him.

“You’re back early,” Sheriff Qinnauyauk said, passing Blair at the door. He had a to-go bag in his hands. “Taking your life in your hands in here.”

“So I see. Have a good day, Sheriff.”

“You too, Blair.”

He could just barely hear the radio over the chattering of the young men and women who were availing themselves of Evan’s buffet. It sounded suspiciously like one of the songs from _Cats_.

“You’re back!” Jon said, face brightening. “Thank goodness. Aiden doesn’t seem to have a firm grasp on the whole concept of opera. We’ve been getting a lot of showtunes.”

Blair and Jon hugged. Jon was one of his best friends and everyone’s favorite waiter. The lunchtime Opera Hour had been initiated just for him. Blair wasn’t sure what Jon’s story was – he could very tight-lipped about his past – but for a young guy he had an old spirit. And unexpected taste in music.

“You want lunch to go?”

“Think I’d better.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Jon slipped into the kitchen and Blair found a place at the very end of the bar to wait for him. He took the opportunity to watch the kids, wondering what had brought them to Fresh Start. It was a survival camp of sorts, a place for troubled kids who’d exhausted most of their other options. The guy who ran it, Steve McGarrett, was a former Navy SEAL and one hell of a nice human being.

“Hey, kid.” 

Blair turned around and grinned at JB, who was holding out a bag for him. “Hey, man. Kids keeping you busy?”

“As always. Jon said to give you this, and he’ll catch up with you later.” JB handed over the bag. He’d probably been working the grill like a madman, trying to keep up with the demand of hungry teenagers. 

“Who’s your shadow?” Blair asked, nodding at the young woman who was peeking out at them from the kitchen.

“That’s Jenny. She’s helping me out today. Come say hi, Jenny.”

The girl was tall and willowy, her apron spattered with grease. Her right arm from the elbow down was a prosthetic.

“Nice to meet you,” Blair said. “Steve put you on KP duty?”

“I volunteered,” she said shyly. The look she turned on JB, who was missing his entire arm and had never worm a prosthetic as far as Blair knew, was full of hero worship. Judging by the discomfited look on JB’s face, he’d seen it too.

“I won’t keep you. Tell Evan I said hi.”

“Sure thing.” JB turned to go, then turned back. “That reminds me. Some guy was asking about you earlier.”

“Mr. Ellison,” Jenny said helpfully. “He’s one of the new counselors.”

“Said he’s heard you on the radio and wanted to meet you.”

Blair scanned the room, but he recognized most of the counselors and the ones he didn’t were women. McGarrett was in the back, seemingly having a contest with one of the kids to see who could stuff a whole hamburger in their mouth, which was fairly disgusting.

“Maybe I’ll catch up with him later.” Blair said his goodbyes and edged back out of the Café. He didn’t know what Evan had packed for his lunch, but it smelled delicious.

There were more kids walking up Main Street, talking and laughing, all of them holding bags from Clint’s store. Blair knew McGarrett didn’t keep junk food up on the mountain, just healthy stuff like granola and salads and fresh fish the kids caught themselves. They were probably all jonesing for chocolate.

Blair’s place was just down Glacier, walking distance to all his usual haunts. It was small: two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a combined kitchen and living room. The only overnight guest who stayed in the extra bedroom was Jon, but only when Evan’s other romantic entanglement was in town.

There was a man sitting on his front step, still as a statue with his head tipped slightly to one side.

“Hello? Hey, man. You okay?”

The guy was clearly not okay. He didn’t even look like he was breathing, which was freaky. Blair squatted down in front of him and set his lunch aside. The guy’s eyes were open, but it was like that old line: lights are on but nobody’s home.

“Did you have to choose my house to go catatonic in front of? You’re not a local, so I’m gonna guess you’re with Fresh Start? My name’s Blair, by the way. In case you can hear me.”

Although, the way the guy’s head was tipped to the side made it look like he was listening to something. Blair’s eyes widened, and he rocked back on his heels. If he didn’t know better, he’d think the strange man on his doorstep was in the middle of a zoneout. Was he the new counselor, the one that kid said wanted to meet him? What the hell was his name? 

“I really need you to pay attention here, okay? Were you the one looking for me? I mean, you’re at my house. That’s not random, right? I’m sorry I can’t remember your name, because I’d really like to use it right now. I’m going to touch you. I hope that’s okay.”

Blair put his hand on the man’s chest. The guy was in good shape. Handsome, too, with the chiseled jaw and the blue eyes. Was he who Blair had been waiting for, the reason he’d come back to Alaska and stayed? Was the shaman right? 

“Please come back,” Blair whispered. He unzipped his coat, took the man’s lax hand in his, and placed it on his own chest, right over his heart, holding it there. “I’ve been waiting for you since I was a kid.”

The man took a shuddering breath and blinked, awareness bleeding back into his eyes. Could he feel how hard Blair’s heart was beating?

“What happened?” 

“I call it a zone out,” Blair said. He didn’t move, didn’t drop his hand. “You were so focused on one sense that you got lost in it.”

“How do you know that?”

“You have five heightened senses, right? And you’re having trouble controlling them?”

The man’s fingers clenched, pulling at the fabric of Blair’s shirt. “You know what’s wrong with me?” His tone had a knife’s edge to it. Blair wondered how much he’d been suffering, and for how long.

“Nothing’s wrong with you, man. You’re a Sentinel. A gift. I’m here to help you.”

“You’re Blair. From the radio.” The guy closed his eyes. “I like listening to you. Your voice smooths everything out.”

“Blair Sandburg. I’m here to help you.” 

The man opened his eyes. “Jim Ellison. I think…I think I’ve been waiting for you. I know that sounds crazy.”

Blair grinned. “No. It doesn’t.”

They looked at each other for a long moment, still connected by touch. Blair could feel the rightness of it, the sense that they were meant to meet each other. He wasn’t sure what was going to happen next, but he was all in.

“Would you like to come inside? I’ll make you some coffee. You must be cold.”

“Coffee sounds good,” Jim replied, eyes crinkling at the corners as he offered Blair a tentative smile.

Blair stood first and helped Jim to his feet. He was really tall. Blair retrieved his lunch and headed up the stairs to the front door, his hand still tangled up with Jim’s. Just before they crossed the threshold, Blair looked at Jim over his shoulder.

“I’m really happy to meet you, big guy. Welcome to Lantea.”

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN:** Title from the song [I Knew I Loved You](https://youtu.be/jjnmICxvoVY) by Savage Garden. I was in a Sentinel mood, so I thought I’d finally have Blair and Jim meet. And of course, now that Steve McGarrett has popped up there will be an H50-centric installment at some point in the future. ::grins:: All the crossovers! All of them!


End file.
